Niobe, the queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion, boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children ( Niobids ), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two.

A Queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion, Niobe boasted of her superiority to Leto because while she had fourteen children ( Niobids ), seven boys and seven girls, Leto had only one of each.

A devastated Niobe and her remaining children were turned to stone by Artemis as they wept.

The Niobe narrative appears in Ovid's Metamorphoses, ( Book VI ) where Latona ( Leto ) has demanded the women of Thebes to go to her temple and burn incense.

To punish this insolence, Latona begs Apollo and Artemis to avenge her against Niobe and to uphold her honor.

Niobe is unable to move from grief and seemingly turns to marble, though she continues to weep, and her body is transported to a high mountain peak in her native land.

In another mythic context, the Achelous was said to be formed by the tears of Niobe, who fled to Mount Sipylus after the deaths of her husband and children.

Envious of Niobe, the wife of her husband's brother Amphion, who had six sons and six daughters, she formed the plan of killing the eldest of Niobe's sons, but by mistake slew her own son Itylus.

A 1772 painting by Jacques Louis David depicting Niobe attempting to shield her children from Artemis and Apollo.

Devastated, Niobe fled back to Mount Sipylus and was turned into stone, and, as she wept unceasingly, waters started to pour from her petrified complexion.

The story of Niobe, and especially her sorrows, is an ancient one.

Niobe is also mentioned in Sophocles's Antigone where, as Antigone is marched toward her death, she compares her own loneliness to that of Niobe.

Parthenius of Nicaea records a rare version of the story of Niobe, in which her father is called Assaon and her husband Philottus.

The circumstances in which Niobe loses her children are also different, see Niobids # Variant myth.

Niobe's iconic tears were also mentioned in Hamlet's soliloquy ( Act 1, Scene 2 ), in which he contrasts his mother's grief over the dead King, Hamlet's father-" like Niobe, all tears "-to her unseemly hasty marriage to Claudius.

A lifesize group of marble Niobids, including one of Niobe sheltering one of her daughters, found in Rome in 1583 at the same time as the Wrestlers, were taken in 1775 to the Uffizi in Florence where, in a gallery devoted to them, they remain some of the most prominent surviving sculptures of Classical antiquity ( see below ).

Three notable works, all dating from the 1770s, " Apollo and Diana Attacking Niobe and her Children " by Anicet-Charles-Gabriel Lemonnier, " The Children of Niobe Killed by Apollo and Diana " by Pierre-Charles Jombert and " Diana and Apollo Piercing Niobe ’ s Children with their Arrows " by Jacques-Louis David belong to the tradition of French Baroque and Classicism.

Meliboea was one of Niobe and Amphion's fourteen children ( the Niobids ), and the only one ( or one of two ) spared when Artemis and Apollo killed the Niobids in retribution for Niobe's insult to their mother Leto, bragging that she had many children and Leto had only two.

Niobe, queen of Thebes, enters in the midst of the worship and insults the goddess, claiming that having beauty, better parentage and more children than Latona, she is more fit to be worshipped than the goddess.

This conclusion was disputed in 1846 by the German chemist Heinrich Rose, who argued that there were two different elements in the tantalite sample, and named them after children of Tantalus: niobium ( from Niobe ), and pelopium ( from Pelops ).

This conclusion was disputed in 1846 by the German chemist Heinrich Rose, who argued that there were two additional elements in the tantalite sample, and he named them after the children of Tantalus: niobium ( from Niobe, the goddess of tears ), and pelopium ( from Pelops ).

Amphion's wife Niobe had many children, but had become arrogant and because of this she insulted the goddess Leto, who had only two children, Artemis and Apollo.

Leto's children killed Niobe's children in retaliation ( see Niobe ).

Amphion married Niobe, and killed himself after the loss of his wife and children ( the Niobids ) at the hands of Apollo and Artemis.

Niobe and Her children ( Cambridge University Press ).

Roman sarcophagus: Apollo and Artemis killing the 14 children of Niobe ( front side ).

In Greek mythology, the Niobids were the children of Amphion of Thebes and Niobe, slain by Apollo and Artemis because Niobe, born of the royal house of Phrygia, had boastfully compared the greater number of her own offspring with those of Leto, Apollo's and Artemis ' mother: a classic example of hubris.

Apollo and Artemis slew all the children of Niobe with their arrows, Apollo shooting the sons, Artemis the daughters.

In another version of the myth, the Niobids are the children of Philottus and Niobe, daughter of Assaon.

When Niobe dared to dispute with Leto about the beauty of her children, her punishment was as follows.

Image: Niobe1. jpg | Niobe and her children, ( Uffizi ).

Mount Sipylus indeed has a natural rock formation which resembles a female face, and it has been associated with Niobe since ancient times and described by Pausanias.

The subject of Niobe and the destruction of the Niobids was part of the repertory of Attic vase-painters and inspired sculpture groups and wall frescoes as well as relief carvings on Roman sarcophagi.

They are also known from figurative sculpture, examples of which are to be found at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome and in the group of Niobids ( including Niobe sheltering one of her daughters ) found in Rome in 1583 along with the Wrestlers and brought to the Uffizi in Florence in 1775.

The novels Niobe and Pelops: Children of Tantalus, Niobe and Amphion: The Road to Thebes and Niobe and Chloris: Arrows of Artermis by Victoria Grossack and Alice Underwood, set in Greece's Bronze Age, posit another solution to the Niobids ' cause of death.

In modern music, Canadian electronic / pop musician Dan Snaith, aka Caribou ( musician ), entitled the last track on his 2007 Polaris Prize winning Andorra ( album ) as " Niobe ".

He concentrated on painting Italianate landscapes and landscapes based upon classical literature, but when his painting, The Destruction of the Children of Niobe ( c. 1759-60 ), won high acclaim, he gained many commissions from wealthy families seeking classical portrayals of their estates.

Perhaps her best-known role to date is the part of human rebel Niobe in the films The Matrix Reloaded ( 2003 ) and The Matrix Revolutions ( 2003 ), sequels to 1999's The Matrix.

Tantalus ' daughter was the tragic Niobe, who is associated with the " Weeping Rock " ( Ağlayan Kaya in Turkish ), a natural formation facing the city of Manisa.

" De Zaaier " ( 1939 ), " Niobe " ( 1946 ) and " De Drie Gratiën " ( 1949 ) are good examples of this period.

He was defeated soundly by Smith ( who was probably limiting the lethality of his attacks, as he wanted to capture the high-ranking infiltrator alive ), and only overcame Johnson due to the nature of their situation ; he did not wear down his opponent, but merely threw him from the top of the speeding truck on which they were fighting, although he only managed to turn the tables on his foe after he was thrown off himself due to the unexpected arrival of Niobe, who rescued him.

* Argus ( king of Argos ), son of Zeus ( or Phoroneus ) and Niobe

* Argus ( king of Argos ), the son of Zeus and Niobe ; Zeus ' first child by a mortal

The first is the Niobe of Sipylus ( Aglayan Kaya ), a natural rock formation, on the lowest slopes of the mountains in the middle of town.

A lyric drama of the same year, Niobe ( 1778 ), attracted little attention, but Faust's Leben dramatisiert ( Faust's Life Dramatized ) ( 1778 ) appealed to the turbulent spirit of the time, and Golo und Genoveva ( begun in 1776, but not published until 1801 ) was an excellent imitation of Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen.